The creation of a princess: the Danish language

One of the hardest tasks that awaited Australia-born Mary Donaldson was learning the Danish language. While French has been the language spoken in Frederik‘s childhood home, tradition dictates that new royalty from foreign countries must learn to speak Danish.

Mary has excelled at this difficult task. She no doubt deserves an A+ for her language skills. Her Danish pronunciation is impeccable, and her Australian accent is almost unnoticeable.

All of the members of the Danish Royal House who grew up speaking a different language have done extremely well in this respect. Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, the former wife of Frederik’s younger brother Prince Joachim, and Princess Marie, who is now married to Joachim, both speak the Danish language fluently.

Queen Margrethe II‘s husband Prince Henrik has a strong French accent but his vocabulary is impressive, showing that he is nonetheless a fluent speaker. “It’s not pronunciation or accent that shows how well one knows a language but vocabulary”, said Princess Marie to the Danish television station DR1, “his vocabulary is impressive, very impressive”.

France-born Princess Marie (left) and Crown Princess Mary (right), who are strikingly similar in appearance, defended their father-in-law’s Prince Henrik’s knowledge of the Danish language in the Danish television program DR1’s documentary The Royal House.

5 comments

Mary is to be complimented for her hard work and dedication to learn the Danish language. I watched the news documentary which showed Mary meeting daily with two different language coaches to learn the language. As an American living in Norway I have worked hard to learn the Norwegian language, and I must say that having two dedicated coaches would certainly be a bonus in learning a new language.

Crownprincess Mary is talking danish fluently.
I don’t think princess Marie is talking danish fluently.
Marie was interviewed by a ladies magazine “Femina” this year but it turned out the interwiev was translated into danish because Princess Marie only answered the questions in english.
Princess Marie also participated in a tv serie about the royal family. The tv serie lasted aproximately 8 hours, but the only thing she said in danish was the name of her son. And she couldn’t remember his name.

Mary’s Danish is not as good as it should be after EIGHT years of living in Denmark and the best tutors available. In fact, her handlers regularly tell people not to tell jokes or make deep conversation with her because she won’t understand. Princess Marie’s pronunciation is much more accurate, and of course Countess Alexandra had completely mastered the language by the time of her engagement interview. What a shame the future Queen couldn’t bother to do the same.

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About

Name:Berit Brogaard
Job: Philosophy and psychology faculty
Age: Thirtysomething
Relationship status: Single
I go by 'Brit', but I am not one. I grew up in Copenhagen but ended up in America after a shorter stay in Southern France. I have pretty much spent all of my adult life here. I like it but miss the fairytales. When I was a teen in Copenhagen, Crown Prince Frederik was a young man getting speeding tickets, hosting wild parties and perfecting his athletic abilities. He seemed to have a lot in common with his grandfather. They both had a preference for life in the fast lane. Everyone wondered whether Frederik was ever going to settle down. Then came Mary... from the land of Oz. She kissed the frog, and a prince appeared and proposed. Mary fascinated me from day one, so much so that I decided to explore her home country from 2007 to 2009. Australians like to talk about Danish Royalty. Being the first Australian to become a real princess, they consider Mary their princess too. Besides who doesn't like to talk about queens and kings, princes and princesses? They are the stuff fairytales are made of, and fairytales are where our dreams come alive.Contact me: brogaardb@gmail.com